Car-door



(No Model.)

G. S. BENNET.

OAR DOOR. No. 563,008.. Patented June 30 1896.

m1 3 9 Q a E5 15 JI' marks SBemZeZ Wiigesses I hlonjcyg} CHARLES S. BENXET, OF NEXYPORT NENS, VIRGINIA.

CAR-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 563,008, dated Jime 30, 1896.

Application filed July 18, 1895. Serial No. 555,990. No model.) I

To all whom, it WLCLZ/ abnccrn:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. BENNET, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newport News, in the county of \Varwiek and State of Virginia, have invented 'a new and useful Car-Door, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in devices for securing freight-car doors, and has for its object to provide a door-fastener of simple and efficient construction which shall be reliable in action, easy to manipulate, and by means of which a car-door may be firmly clamped and held in place in such in anner as to prevent water from entering between the edges of the door and the door-posts.

A further object of the invention is to construct and arrange the several parts of the fastening device in such manner that they cannot be tampered with, thus preventing access to the interior of the ear, exceptby breaking the seal.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the course of the suhjoined description.

The invention consists in a ear-door-fz'istening device comprising certain novel features and details of construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the drawings, and finally embodied .in the claims.

Inthe accompanying drawings, Fighre l is a perspective View of a ear-doorand a sufficient portion of a car-body to illustrate the application of the improved fastener thereto. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through one end of the doorway, showing the method of operation. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section through the door and door-posts. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail perspective view of one of the camfingers. Fig. 5 is a similar view of one of the keepers, the same being shown applied to a door-post.

Similar numerals of reference designate :orresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates two vertical posts, which comprise the side jambs of a ear-door opening, and 2 acar-door which overlaps, at its side edges, theposts 1. The

.,door 2 is suspended by its upper edge from an overhead support, arranged at the top of at or near the opposite side edges of the door' in suitable bearings 4. The ends of the rockshaft 3 are extended slightly beyond the opposite side edges of the door, where they are squared to receive two cam-fingers 5, each cam-finger comprising a hub portion having a square perforation fitting the end of the horizontal rock-shaft, so as to turn therewith, and a curved finger 6,-the inner operative edge of which is disposed eccentrically to the rockshaft by which the fin ger is operated, the rockshaft itself being vibrated or turned by means of an arm or lever 7. p

' 8 indicates a pair of keepers, one for each cam-finger, the same being arranged in inortises in the outer faces of'the door-posts 1. Each of said keepers is formed from a single casting, comprising a pair of oppositely-disposed side walls, which are rectangular inv shape and connected bya curved web 9, havin g its concaved face disposed outwardly, as shown, to receive the swinging end of its respective cam-finger. lhe curved web 9 is extended vertically at the front edge of the keeper and atboth top and bottom, and said vertical extensions provided with countersunk perforations, adapted to receive the correspondingly formed heads of transverse horizontal bolts 10, which extend through the door-posts and receive retaining-nuts upon their inner ends, as shown. The outer ends or heads of these bolts being flush with the outer faces of the keepers,it will be impossible for any one to tamper with or remove said bolts from the outside when the door is closed and locked. with a connecting-web 11, formed integrally with and disposed between the rectangular side plates thereof, the inner surface of said web being rounded in the manner indicated in the drawings, thereby facilitating the sliding of the inner edge of the curved eccentric finger 6 thcreon,and adaptingthe cam-fingers, when the rock-shaft is operated, to draw the door inward with considerable force and bind the same against the door-posts.

Each keeper is f u rthc r provided IOU -said ribs or tongues being disposed: in such relation to the grooves in the door-posts that ,when the door is in closed position the said ribs or tongues will enter and rest within the grooves 12, thus etlieetually excluding water and protecting the contents of the car from the elements. The tongues 1 3 are disengaged from the grooves 12 by swinging the door outward at its lower end and upon its overhead support, after which the door may be moved laterally to one side or the other.

By the construction just described a close tit is obtained between the door and the carbod I which is just as etiective as a flush-seating door which lies wholly within a recess in the door-opening, and the present construction is advantageous over a tlush-seatin g door in that it is not necessary to provide the carbody at one side of the door-opening with a separate and independent recess into which the door may be moved when not in use. The door herein described lies flat against the side of the car-body and does not enter a recess. 'lherefore,'by simply disengaging the ribs or tongues 13 from their grooves, the door may be moved laterally to one side or the other.

In order to prevent the device from being manipulated by strangers. the outer end of the operating-lev'er 7 is provided with a slot, which is adapted to pass over the outwardlyplOjOfitlHfJ," end of. a staple 14:, secured to the car-door at a suitable point above the rockshaft 3. A ear-seal oi? any ordinary description may be passed through the staple '14, outside of the arm or lever 7, after which said arm cannot be vibrated for opening the door without it being discovered that the door has been tampered with. The bearings 4 for the shaft 23 are secured in place by means of bolts, which correspond in description to the bolts lll,which retain thekeepers 8 in place. Thus it will bescen that there is nothing upon the outside of the ear or car-door which can be tampered with for the purpose of opening the door :nllOlll/ breaking the seal. Hyreasen ol' tln eculiar shape of the cam-lingers, and the keepers in connection with which the same operate, the ear-door may be forced with any desired pressure against the door posts of cars, as in refrigerator-ears, where it may be desirable, at times, to ventilate the contents of the ear, and at other t lines to exclude the air therefrom. \Vhen the double doors are employed, it is necessary to utilize two sets of keepers, as shown in the said ligur'e, in order that either door may be brought into use, as may be desired. When but a single door is employed, it is of course necessary.

only to employ a pair of single keepers, ar-

ranged as described, in the door-posts.

It will be apparent that changes in the form, propm'tion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invimtion, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In combination with a car-body, a sliding ear-door, relatively engaging tongues on one and grooves on the other at the edges of the door and door-opening, the car-body having another set of similar tongues or grooves to one side of the door-opening, and means for forcing the door with its tongues or grooves laterally into engagement with either set of tongues'or grooves on the car-body, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a car-body, a pairof slidingcar-doors, relatively cngagingtongues on one and grooves on the other at the edges of the doors and door-opening, the earbody having other setsofsimilartonguesorgrooves to each side of the door-opening, and means for forcing the doors with their tongues or grooves into engagement with either set of tongues or grooves on the ear-body, substan kz qof tially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own Ihaveheretoal'lixed mysignature in the presence of two witnesses.

(HARLES S. BENNET.

w it nesses:

.luHN ll. hieenns, lmxwn-m M. sum-i. 

